41. Encounter – Shestia 1
About four weeks had passed since Shiro arrived in this world. Thanks to the goddess’s cottage, he’d managed to live relatively comfortably.
Every day, he went hunting to level up, slaying monsters. He studied and trained his skills, increased his maximum magic capacity—doing all of it without fail, every single day.
His combat training with Mitoka had become quite natural now. At first, Shiro had been thoroughly beaten by Mitoka, but lately he’d managed to hold his own. Still, she was always stronger, and Shiro couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
He figured he’d reached a decent combat level for exploring the world. That said, he’d only trained against monsters and Mitoka—no real human opponents yet.
He hadn’t touched the local people or culture at all, and he considered that his next challenge.
It was about time he headed toward a place where people lived, he thought.
Today, like every day, Shiro decided to train his reconnaissance skill. He gradually expanded its range each day, for practice.
His current 【Recon】 skill was level 3—capable of detecting things within about two kilometers.
Today, he was determined to push it to three kilometers.
“Huh? This signal…?”
He detected a battle occurring roughly 2.5 kilometers to the southwest.
——『【Recon】 has reached level 4』
“Huh? Recon level up? And this—battle? Someone else there?”
Shiro’s reconnaissance had leveled up to four, granting him greater detail. Ten monsters detected. One giant hedgehog, level fifty, and three humans.
—Three humans against this many giant hedgehogs? That’s looking pretty dire. And giant hedgehogs have high resistance to both magic and physical attacks, not to mention they fire needle barrages. Definitely a pain in the ass.
Shiro thought that, then decided to head over and check the situation firsthand.
“Shiro, should I come with you like this? Or should I disengage my manifestation?”
Mitoka asked. For a moment, she’d considered whether her presence might be dangerous—she was an unusual entity, after all.
“Hmm, yeah, come on. No need to hide. I’ll call on your support if I need it,” Shiro replied.
Using three-dimensional mobility, they leapt through the forest, closing in on the battlefield.
They spotted three humans completely surrounded by giant hedgehogs. One man, two women— one of the women appeared injured.
The two women were firing fire and ice balls, but they were doing zero damage.
The man was fighting back with a sword, but he was getting overwhelmed by sheer size and number.
As Shiro and Mitoka observed, one of the giant hedgehogs launched a volley of needles from its body. Those needles were hard—once they pierced flesh, it wouldn’t be survivable.
—Ah, no, that’s bad!
In an instant, Shiro sealed the area with a barrier. The needles struck the barrier and rebounded at the last second.
Shiro and Mitoka landed at their side after briefly lifting the barrier, then quickly resealed the area.
“Are you alright? Should I send reinforcements?”
Shiro called out, making sure first.
They couldn’t hide their shock at the sudden appearance.
“〇◆▽〇×?”
The man spoke something to Shiro.
“Wait—can’t understand him?”
Shiro blinked. Then—
――『[Concept Language: Filidia Common Tongue] Module installing automatically』
A jolt shot through his mind, like something cracking open, and suddenly he understood what the man was saying.
Concept Language wasn’t tied to specific words. It was thought translated into pure concept.
Words weren’t necessary—thoughts and intent were. Concept Language described the sequence of mental states and internal parameter shifts. It could be translated into any language, via this system.
Humans used spoken words or written text. Animals communicated through motion or vocalizations. Any being whose mind the world system supported could think in Concept Language and exchange ideas through external languages—those available as installable modules.
“Hey, who the hell are you?”
The man’s accusation finally made sense to Shiro.
“Ah—sorry, uh, just passing through, but are you okay? Want help?”
Shiro stammered, flustered by the sudden clarity of language.
“Huh? Oh—yeah, I could use help, but who the hell are you? Where the hell did you come from?”
The man sounded baffled. Shiro thought, *Well, at least we’re speaking the same language now.*
"Is this a barrier?" the woman beside me asked, her voice strained as if she’d injured her arm. And then, barely audible: "...why is a maid here?"
"Perhaps you two are..." Another girl stepped forward, about to speak,
Yes, this is a barrier. So we're safe now. Came from beyond the forest. Let me handle the monsters around here first. Mitoka, you’ll look after everyone here.
Shiro thought it was pointless to waste time explaining in this situation, so he gave Mitoka a quick instruction and, the instant she deactivated the barrier, shot upward and swiftly reactivated it.
And after ascending to a certain altitude,
"Target acquired, [Lock On]. Attack option with auto-activation disabled: [Multi-Homing Melting Iron Needle]."
And shouted, activating the spell.
A needle-like rod of iron, glowing white-hot, skewers the beast with homing guidance—its heat and shape bypass even the toughest physical resistance.
The three watching from below were stunned by how suddenly Shiro leapt into the sky and how effortlessly he defeated the monster.
Then, after Shiro descended, all the monsters had vanished—having been stored in his inventory—and the three of them stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
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